firaxis posts

We've been down this road before and it looks like we are going that way once again. Rumors of a revival of the classic X-Com turn-based strategy PC game series have been popping up on the Internet tubes for years. This week the new rumors center on 2K Games' developer Firaxis working on a new version of the original game.

This new rumor comes from the Twitter page of the anonymously updated and trademark-obsessed web site Superannuation. The statement also revives the rumor that there's a first person shooter X-Com game that's also in the works. 2K Boston has been named as the developer for that title for quite some time and it's head man Ken Levine hasn't exactly denied that possibility. Indeed 2K Boston's sister developer 2K Australia has apparently worked at one time on such a project as Superannuation has found a (since removed) resume from a former developer at that studio that mentions such an X-Com game. We just wish 2K Games would spare us more time to speculate and come clean; the suspense is killing us.

This patch updates Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword to v3.19. Continue reading after the jump for full patch notes.

Download Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword v3.19 Patch (165 MB)
Check out all Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword downloads

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

Sid Meier, Brian Reynold, and by extension all of Firaxis Games have a pedigree of excellent games as long as my arm. They have created countless excellent strategy series, including the Railroad Tycoon, Civilization, and Pirates! games. There's a ton of different games that could be talked about here on Boot Disk, but perhaps the most beloved is Alpha Centauri. Wooing even the hardcore Civilization contingent, Alpha Centauri is considered to be one of best games ever created by Firaxis, and one of the best PC games period. Ten years later, and it's no worse for the wear. In fact, many of the elements portrayed in it still have yet to be incorporated into the mainstream strategy gaming world. What a shame.

The collection will contain the original title from developer Firaxis Games, the game's two expansion packs (Warlord and Beyond The Sword) as well as 2008's stand alone title Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization. The collection will have a price tag of $39.99. In an interesting twist, the press release announcing the collection also stated that it is "entirely DRM-free". That's yet another indication that publishers might be figuring out that PC games that don't have DRM set-ups might be a good selling point from consumers.

We've got one more weekend PC game sales deal to tell you about today. The download service Gamersgate is offering up a weekend-only discount on Civilization IV: Colonization, the recent historical strategy game from developer Firaxis and publisher 2K Games.

Normally priced at $30, Gamersgate is offering up the acclaimed game this weekend only for just $14.99, which if you do the math is 50 percent off its usual price. By the way, Gamersgate has added some more Electronic Arts titles to its library this week including C&C: Red Alert 3, The Godfather, Crysis Warhead and Medal of Honor: Airborne among others.

Strategy fans won't need to wait much longer for Civilization IV: Colonization, the remake of the classic game. This trailer looks like it will be the opening cinematic for the game and outlines its goals, which is to establish colonies in the New World and eventually fight a war for independence. The game is currently scheduled to release in the fall of 2008.

Download the Civilization IV: Colonization HD Trailer (188 MB)

On Tuesday, in our last thrilling episode of Big Download's most anticipated PC games for E3 2008, we listed our picks for 20-16 on our list after revealing our picks for 25-21 on Monday. Which naturally means that today we will have our picks for the 15-11 games we have on our list that we are most interested to see at E3 next week in Los Angeles. Which games will they be? Will they actually be at the show? Will we stop making silly references to Saturday afternoon movie series of the 1930's? Stay tuned to find out the answers to these exciting questions and more.

As we mentioned previously, these are just our predictions on what games will be shown at the event; many of these titles have not been officially confirmed to be at E3 as of this writing. Also, there's no Activision or Vivendi Games/Blizzard titles on this list due to the two publishers bypassing E3 but a press conference by Activision on Tuesday during E3 is highly expected to show some upcoming titles from that publisher (and maybe Vivendi/Blizzard as well). With that out of the way let's look at our picks for the next five games on our list.

Last week we reported on Variety's game blog writer Ben Fritz's claims that the upcoming 2K Games' strategy title Civilization IV: Colonization was "racist" because the actual historical colonization of the New World dealt with whole native civilizations being attacked and nearly wiped out by the European colonists. Fritz received a comment from developer Firaxis Games who state in part that the game " . . . treats the events of that time with respect and care" and added that "players can and should make their own moral judgments."

Fritz also posted up his own follow-up post where he defends his position against the game's premise, stating, "If you want to deal with the reality of colonization, that's cool. But it seems to me the bare minimum to achieve that would be including the option to look at events -- or in the case of a game, play -- as the people being colonized. That's not an option here." While you may not be able to play as natives, according to this PC Gamer preview (via GamesRadar), the natives can certainly beat you if you decided to take them on unprepared. Therefore we are still not seeing the real difference between this kind of a game and a regular historical strategy war game where tons of people are killed on each side.

Civilization 4 is one of those must-play games that will suck your life away in a whirlwind of historical battles and silly events (Islam was founded in London?!). The Beyond The Sword expansion pack only adds to this amazing addictiveness of the game, including things such as a brand new era and a plethora of new scenarios to dominate. Firaxis has patched the game up to 3.17, and has addressed rebalancing concerns as well as bugfixes. You can download the patch right here on Big Download, and the full patch notes are after the break.

Download Civilization 4: Beyond The Sword patch 3.17 on Big Download today!